Loves Labours (Read 11,163 times)

[fluffysmom]

Jade is disgusting. Poor Claire. I wonder if there's more of the video yet to be seen.

Will there be previews André DiMera?

[André DiMera]

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone! The Last Blast Dance is always one of my favorite events. And yes, it is horrible what Jade did to Claire! And now...

Next Week...

Last week, a disturbing video temporarily derailed the Last Blast.
CIARA: Oh god...
JOEY: What have I done?

This week, Claire's friends run to her side.
*Chase puts his arms around Claire*.
CIARA: No one messes with my best friend...

And Mr. Woods speaks out.
WOODS: I have a few words for you all.

Plus, Joey finally confronts Jade.
JOEY: What the hell?!

All this and more next week on LOVES LABOURS

[heroicmuse]

I can't wait to see all the fallout of what Jade did. I'm especially interested in what Mr Woods has to say and in Joey confronting Jade!

Thanks for the previews André DiMera! It's going to be a great week!

[fluffysmom]

The fallout sounds really good. I hope Claire can move past this. Thanks André DiMera.

[Kpatch]

Whoa! Sounds like a super week. I want to see Jade get her comeuppance!

[André DiMera]

Chapter 26

SALEM HIGH
The lights in the gymnasium came on. The video was turned off. Mr. Woods walked up to the microphone on the stage. All the students groaned at this turn of events.
WOODS: Silence.
Though he wasn't a loud man, the microphone magnified Mr. Woods' voice. The student body fell silent.
WOODS: I want to know who is responsible for this.
Silence.
WOODS: Nobody wants to talk, huh? Okay. Fine. But be aware, I will get to the bottom of this. You all can go home now.
More groans from the students.
WOODS: Oh, you want to stay? Okay. I have a few words for you, anyway. Independence High School, Glendale, Arizona. Reynolds High School, Troutdale, Oregon. Arapahoe High School, Centennial Colorado. Sandy Hook Elementary! Newtown, Connecticut. Now, I'm sure that some of you haven't even heard of these names. And that's all they are to you. Just names. But what happened here tonight, this is where it begins. This is how violence starts. Now, I don't think it will come to that. Or at least, I hope it doesn't. This school has a zero tolerance policy on bullying. And it has been a long time since I saw something like this. I have so much hope for your generation. I thought that now, after all of the progress in acceptance and tolerance that has been made, that this was a new generation. A generation that just knew inside that it doesn't matter who we are, what we think. What we like and don't. And I still have some of that hope. But this...this will not be tolerated. We will find the person, or persons who are responsible. I am greatly saddened by this. Go home, people. Your Last Blast Dance is over.
Meanwhile, in the hallway, Joey had a look of fury on his face.
JOEY: What the hell was that?
JADE: I told you I had pictures.
JOEY: What the hell have you done?
JADE: I don't recall doing anything. I just gave you a flash drive, the contents of which you put into the slide show for this dance.
JOEY: Don't play games with me, Jade, because I'm sick of it! I am so sick of these mind games you play with me!
JADE: Oh, please. You were happy to go along with it.
JOEY: No, I wasn't. I only did it because you told me to. I didn't actually want to.
JADE: And yet, you did.
JOEY: Do you really hate Claire that much? Was some petty disagreement between you two so important that you had to embarrass her in front of the entire school?
JADE: She had it coming. She's been asking for it for months.
JOEY: No, she hasn't! She hasn't done anything to you! But for some reason, you just have it out for her. Why? What did she ever do to you?
JADE: She exists. That's bad enough. Wake up and smell the coffee, Joey. You cousin is a spoiled little princess who finally got what she deserved. I did her a favor.
JOEY: What you did was horrible! You filmed her in the shower and then you showed it to the whole school. Who does that?!
JADE: Oh, get over it. It's not that big a deal.
JOEY: Oh, really?
JADE: Yeah, really. It doesn't matter. I've won.
Henri, Ciara and Theo both walked outside. They found Chase, who was still holding Claire.
CIARA: Hey.
Ciara gave Claire a hug, and Henri put a hand on her shoulder. Then, Claire went back into Chase's arms.
THEO: I'm sorry about what happened, Claire.
CLAIRE: Why would someone do this?
CHASE: I don't know. I really don't.
CIARA: Well, whoever it was, they're gonna pay. Nobody hurts my best friend and gets away with it.
Claire sniffled. Chase rubbed her shoulder.
CHASE: Let's go for a walk, okay? Let's get out of here.
Claire nodded. Chase looked from Ciara to Theo then to Henri.
CIARA: Come on.
Ciara took Claire's right hand while Chase took her left. Then, the five walked off together.

[heroicmuse]

I'm glad Mr. Woods was hard on the students and I hope that he gets to the bottom of this soon.

I'm glad Claire's friends are there for her. I hope they don't do anything that gets them in trouble along with Jade.

[Kpatch]

Mr. Woods is awesome. He doesn't mince words.

Jade is disturbed and dangerous.

[mae00]

Mr. Woods is quickly becoming my favorite character. I hope that ALL the kids took his words to heart. Too bad Jade didn't hear it. I can't wait to see what kind of example he makes of her when he learns that she was behind it.

[krw627]

I have a bad feeling, just with her statement to Joey, that she will set him up to take the fall for this.

[André DiMera]

Chapter 27

AIDEN'S APARTMENT
Since early on in the year, Aiden and Chase had been living in an apartment. Aiden was looking over some legal documents when the door opened. He looked up Chase, Ciara and Claire walked in.
AIDEN: Hi, guys.
CHASE: Hi, dad.
CIARA: Hey Aiden.
AIDEN: How was the dance?
CIARA: It was...interesting.
Aiden stood up.
AIDEN: Why don't I like the sound of that?
CIARA: It's nothing we did. It's just...it's been kind of a long night.
AIDEN: I see.
CHASE: Dad, Claire's had kind of a rough night. Is it okay if she stays over?
CIARA: She can sleep in my room. I have a blow up mattress.
AIDEN: Sure, that's fine. You can stay as long as you want, Claire.
CLAIRE: Thanks, Mr. Jennings.
Ciara put an arm around Claire.
CIARA: This way.
The two of them walked to Ciara's bedroom.

SALEM HIGH
JOEY: You've won?
JADE: Yeah.
Joey shook his head.
JOEY: You are unbelievable.
JADE: Oh, come on, Joey. You saw what happened. If that's not winning, I don't know what is.
JOEY: That was pathetic! What you did, it was horrible! It was disgusting!
JADE: Well, don't have a cow or anything.
JOEY: You think this is funny?
JADE: Yeah, I do.
Joey turned away.
JADE: Come on. She deserved it. You know she did.
He turned back to look at Jade. A look of pure hatred on his face.
JOEY: No, I don't know that. What I know is that she is my cousin. What I know is that she is a really good person. What I know is that she has tried to be nice to you. And what I know is that for absolutely no reason that I can fathom, you have hated her from the moment you met her. She didn't deserve this, Jade! Nobody deserves to be humiliated like this! I don't know what happened between you two, or why you seem to hate her so much. And frankly, I don't care. What I do care about is that you have utterly destroyed a member of my family, and I'm not gonna stand for it anymore!
JADE: Oh, shut...
JOEY: You shut up!
Jade blinked.
JADE: Excuse me?
JOEY; No, excuse me! I always let you do the talking. From the day I met you, you've been the one who does all the talking. The one who makes all the decisions. Every time I open my mouth, you tell me to shut up. Well, not this time! It's my turn now! I liked you, Jade. I really cared about you. But now I see it. You didn't care about me. You didn't like me. You liked being in control of me. Now I see who you really are.
JADE: Joey...
JOEY: Don't. Just save it. I don't want to hear it anymore. You hurt someone that I care about. And I've put up with it. For months on end, I've put up with it. Well, I'm done. You call this winning? Is this everything you imagined winning would be? Well, congratulations, Jade. You've won. Enjoy yourself.
Joey turned and walked away.

[Kpatch]

Go Joey! This is what I would love to see on air.

[heroicmuse]

I'm SO glad Joey broke up with Jade. Though I don't think this is the end of it. Jade is going to bother him and maybe stalk him I'm sure.

Glad to see good Aiden taking care of Chase, Ciara and Claire. I wonder what they will all do about this situation.

Great chapter André DiMera!

[mae00]

WTG Joey!!!!! I didn't think it was possible for me to like him, but you managed to do it André DiMera. Now if only TV Joey would grow a pair.....

[André DiMera]

Chapter 28

SALEM HIGH
The weekend had been a long one. Claire was grateful for that. The only reason she was even back at Salem High today was because Mrs. Shuler had asked tl speak with her. Speaking of which, Jade was currently in Mrs. Shuler's office.
SHULER: Miss Michaels, thank you for gracing me with your presence.
JADE: Yeah, okay. Why was I called here?
SHULER: Sit down.
Jade sat across from her teacher.
SHULER: I have never been more disappointed in a student than I am in you right now.
JADE: What? Who told you?
SHULER: It doesn't matter how I know or who told me. What you did was unacceptable. And I have no choice but to terminate you from this production.
JADE: But...but you can't do that! I am Eva Peron! You can't put on Evita without Eva Peron!
SHULER: Oh, we already have our Eva. And I have no doubt that she will do very well in the role. As for you, Miss Michaels, you may report to Mr. Woods' office. I'm sure he'd like a few words with you.
Jade stood up.
JADE: This is frickin' unbelievable!
She stormed out of the room. Claire was standing just outside the office. Jade glared at her and mumbled an expletive just loud enough for Claire to hear, then walked away. Claire knocked on the door.
SHULER (through door): Come in.
Claire opened the door, walked in and sat down.
CLAIRE: You wanted to see me, Mrs. Shuler?
SHULER: Yes, I did, Miss Brady. I'm sorry, I'm sure that this weekend was a difficult one. How are you doing?
CLAIRE: Okay, I guess.
SHULER: Well, I have a matter to discuss with you.
CLAIRE: Okay.
SHULER: We have an opening in Evita. The role of Eva Peron. I know I cast you as the understudy, but the role is now yours.
CLAIRE: Really?
SHULER: Really.
CLAIRE: I...thank you. I really appreciate it. But, I don't know if I can. Not after what happened on Friday night.
SHULER: I understand. Well, if you really don't want to, I shall have to make other arrangements.
CLAIRE: It's not that I don't want to. It's...I'm really embarrassed.
SHULER: I know what that feels like. Miss Brady, this stays between us, but I have a story to tell you.
Claire nodded.
SHULER: When I was about your age, I was cast in Chess, as one of the main characters. There was this girl who had taken an intense disliking to me. And, at the end of year dance, she dumped a bucket of blood on me...and later put up a picture of my head pasted onto a porn picture, and passed it around school.
CLAIRE: That's horrible!
SHULER: Not as horrible as what happened to you. Believe me, I'm not trying to compare the two situations. But, I do know what it's like to feel so totally humiliated. So, I understand if you want to drop out of the musical. But, I want you to know that nobody is laughing at you. I was at the dance the other night. The amount of people that are on your side is amazing.
Claire thought for a moment.
CLAIRE: Miss Shuler...I don't want to drop out. I just thought about this one time when one of my uncles was teaching me sign language. The first word he taught me was courage. It's something that's kind of stuck with me. I'm sure it won't be easy, but I have to have courage. I have to go back out there and face what happened. So...
Claire took a deep breath.
CLAIRE: Yes, I will take the part of Eva Peron.
SHULER: Good. I'm glad to hear that. I have no doubt that you will do wonderfully.
CLAIRE: Thanks. And, thanks for the talk.
Claire got up and walked out of the office. Meanwhile, Jade had just gotten out of a meeting with Mr. Woods.
WOODS: I will see you bright and early first thing next Monday.
Jade rolled her eyes and made her way out of the school. On her way, she saw Joey.
JADE: You told them?